A P R I L 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 9
I
call it drawer-to-arm phenomenon An anesthesia provider is
about to inject a patient with a local anesthetic as she awaits a
routine surgery. He reaches first to the anesthesia workstation for
a swab, then back to the patient. Then he goes back to his incredibly-
difficult-to-clean station for a syringe, reaches for the vial in one of
the drawers, fills the syringe and then goes back to the patient to
inject her with the anesthetic.
Every time one of your anesthesia providers make one of those pre-
injection steps, every time he touches a drawer on his station for a
vial or a syringe or a swab, he's increasing the risk of contamination.
Besides practicing consistently good hand hygiene practices, here are
a couple ideas for safer injection practices.
• Pre-filled syringes. Many anesthesia providers are split on the
topic of prefilled syringes, but I see them as a useful way to cut back
on the risk of infection by taking drawer-to-arm phenomenon out of at
Does That Injection Come With an Infection?
•
BE AWARE
Are
your
anesthesia providers
spreading infection with
their
injection practices?
The risk may be higher
than you think.
DRAWER-TO-ARM PHENOMENON
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
